Six Kings Slam 2024: Nadal and Alcaraz, historic relay in the desert | Tennis | Sports

Time flies and this fake conclave in Riyadh, filled with holograms, turbans and millions, underlines the change of era that has been anticipated for a couple of years and that clearly portrays the new order of today: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on the one hand, on his own, the veteran Novak Djokovic making them uncomfortable with that legendary pride and the rest of the players, practically everyone else, several worlds behind. A worthy contender is the Russian Daniil Medvedev, who dropped out at Wednesday’s opening, but the Danish Holger Rune is very out of place because his level today is truly not enough to be among these. kings of the desertwhich the advertising poster says. And apart from everyone, Rafael Nadal, still present just over a month after sealing his professional career, a life racket in hand.

Before the goodbye in the Davis Cup in Malaga, the Mallorcan (38 years old) parades for the penultimate time and his rackets give off a nostalgic air, leading inevitably to those other times in which he was the one who overwhelmed, the one who rode, the who fired some diabolical balls that made the person in front suffer. Logically, that is no longer the case. The fuse is running out and no matter how much the poster offered a bright crossing with Alcaraz, the last face to face between the two, the imbalance became evident immediately (double 6-3, in 1h 17m). Without the need to force, the Murcian (21) took over the duel and reinforced the idea that Sinner had expressed in the previous turn, influencing this new hierarchy and the definitive turning of the page, even though Djokovic – surrendered by the Italian with a 6-2, 6-7(0) and 6-4—continue shuffling.

One cycle ends and another inevitably begins. Meanwhile, despite the friendly format of the match, Nadal tried to gather a series of stimuli that he will surely need for that Davis Cup event, taking into account that he has not competed since the end of July and that he has done so in fits and starts this season; 19 official matches in seven tournaments, the vast majority of them conditioned by their physique. Logical, then, is the dysfunction of this clash with Alcaraz, the thickness of that mind — “bad start to the game,” described his coach, Carlos Moyà — and the late activation of that heavy and so injured body. The rhythm that the Mallorcan could have acquired during the summer stretch has vanished and it is now a matter of recovering it in the race, even if it is in exotic and insubstantial tests – beyond the economic – like this one in Riyadh.

I miss everything. It is strange to see Nadal far from that Nadal who rebelled against any circumstance, accepting that today he is a good handful of gears below his ideal version; And the landscape of this tennis today is also strange, where the tunics dye the stands white and on an October night you look towards the Saudi Arabian court. New winds in the sport and also on the track, where the rockets that now fly are those of Sinner and Alcaraz. The one from El Palmar was elegant in the victory and the disposition, knowing that for both of them the fight was nothing more than a mere preparation for what is coming, for that farewell party next month in Malaga. By then, the Spaniard will try to reactivate those legs penalized by inactivity and interruptions, confident in one last shot of epic.

On Saturday, more shooting for him against an old and well-known adversary, Nole, in a last confrontation preceded by an uneven duel at the Paris Games. In any case, a good opportunity to increase biorhythms that are low today. A penultimate gift for the fan. “In a month I have the Davis, so every day is an opportunity to improve,” says Nadal, leaning meekly in 77 minutes, cold from the start – eight successive points in favor of Alcaraz – and progressively better as the action went on. In any case, without possibilities against a young man who now embodies all that freshness and vigor of his beginnings. The historic changing of the guard is consolidated and, who knew, the desert frames the changeover.

Things have changed a lot since that first time, when Nadal was marking ground against who, theoretically, was going to be the successor. That afternoon, at the Caja Mágica in Madrid, the abdominal muscles of the boy, who was precisely turning 18, paid the price for the tension and the voluminous dimension of the myth, which only granted him three games. The following year, 2022, the second duel already hinted at a significant turn; The wind caused mischief in Indian Wells and the Mallorcan had to resort to all his skill to finally defeat a tough guy who, by demanding so much of him in the rallies, ended up taking a toll on his physique. And a month and a half later, the suspicion that something big was being born came true with the stellar victory that the Murcian signed in the Madrid arena, witness to a historic relief.

This Thursday, it is Riyadh that marks the definitive turning point: two giants will fight for consolation and the last two diamonds for the final victory; accompanied, not a minor fact, by a check for 5.5 million euros.